Sunshade



L. A. VESTA May 30, 1944.

SUN SHADE Filed NOV. 6, 1.941

2 Sheets-Sheet l Jvvucxwtom Lewis A.Vesta W L. A. VESTA May 30, 1944.

SUN SHADE Filed Nov. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Lewis A..'\/esta m gwsg Patente d May 30,1944

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE -2,sso, z97 Lent stiff-23mm. Application November 6,;1941, Serial-No. 417,999

' 1 Claim. (01. 296-44) My invention relates to sunshades and has for an object to provide a sunshade which may .be easily and quickly attached to a motor vehicle to shield the occupants from the rays of the sun entering the windows in the body of the motor vehicle and to prevent rain from entering the open windows.

An object of the invention resides in providing a sunshade which can be securely attached'to the motor vehicle.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a sunshade which can be attached to either the'upper rail of the door of the motor vehicle or to the gutter of the motor vehicle.

An object of the invention resides in providing a sunshade having a mounting for attachment to the motor vehicle and a shield pivotally' supported by said mounting.

A feature of the invention resides in providing a frictional means engaging a part movable with the shield for holding the shield in adjusted position.

Another object of the invention resides in providing the shield with a shaft attached thereto and rotatably mounted in the mounting and in providing friction means for engaging the shaft.

A still further object of the invention resides in constructing the mounting as a case having a front wall and a rear wall and end walls and open at the top and in rotatably mounting said shaft in the end walls of the case with a portion thereof accessible from the interior of the case.

A still further object of the invention resides in arranging the friction means within the case and in engagement with the portion of the shaft within the case and in further providing adjusting means extending through the case for varying the pressure of the friction means on the shaft. g

A feature of the invention resides in providing a clamp member having a jaw spaced from and parallel to the rear wall of the case and movable toward and from said rear wall to clamp the case upon the lip of a' door. or gutter of the vehicle.

A feature of the invention resides in providing the clamping member with a flange overlying the upper edge of the rear wall and an ear extending inwardly therefrom through the open end of the case and in further providing a screw extending through the front wall of the case and engaging said ear to move the jaw of the clamp member toward and from the rear wall of the case.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/or described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a portion of the motor vehicle illustrating an embodiment of my invention applied to the door of the same.

Fig. 2 is an elevational sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l and drawn to a greaterscale.

Fig. 3 is an elevational sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 415 a view similar to 4-4 of Fig. 3. e 1

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the sunshade attached to the gutter of a motor vehicle.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the parts of the mounting detached from one another.

In driving motor vehicles in, sunny weather, considerable inconvenience is encountered when the sun shines inwardly through the side'windows of the motor vehicle and upon the passengers. Heretofore devices used-for the purpose of shading the occupants have required reconstruction of the motor vehicle. In other cases, the application of the shade to the motor vehicle has left spaces between the shade and body of the vehicle through which the sun might shine upon the occupants. The present invention overcomes these difliculties by providing a sunshade which may be easily and quickly attached to existing parts of the motor vehicle Fig. 2 taken on. line .without alteration or reconstruction thereof and i which completely shades the occupants from the sun directed toward the window to which the sunshade: is applied.

For 'the purpose of illustrating the application of my invention, I have shown in the draw-" ings a'portion of a'motor vehicle Hi. The body of the vehicleis designated by the reference numeral'll and includes a top l2 and a number of doors l3 and I l. Immediately above the doors I3 and I4 is a gutter I5.

'A portion of the door i3 is shown "in cross ,section-inFig. 2. This portiono f the door consists'of two-molded parts 16 and II which are spaced from one another to receive therebetween a channel 18 having a felt liner 19 therein. Thisliner is constructed with a groove 2| in which'the window pane 22 of the door isre-' ceived. The two molded portions l6 and 11 are connected together by means of a connecting strip 23 which is formed with adepnding flange -24 secured to the member I 1 and with an upwardly extending flange 25 overlying the outer portion 26 of the member I6. This construction forms a lip projecting outwardly from the, door proper, indicated at 30. The portion 26 of mem-- ber i6 is turned over upon the flange 25 as designated at 21 to form ahead at the outermost edge of the lip 30. A gasket 13 is attached to the connecting strip 23 and overlies the lip 30. The construction described provides an upper rail 28 and stiles 23 connected therewith. The various parts of the door are preferably constructed of metal and are welded or otherwise secured together.

The gutter l of the motor vehicle is-secured to the top by welding or otherwise and has an outer curved wall or lip 3| and an interior wall 32 spaced therefrom andforming with the wall 3| a trough 33 in which the water is collected. The wall 32 is welded or brazed to the top I2 and is thus rigidly secured thereto.

. The invention proper consists of one or more mountings, two of which are shown in Fig. 1 and indicated by the reference numerals 34 and 34. Since both of these mountings are identical, only the mounting 34 will be described. Rotatably connected to these mountings is a shield 35 which may be swung from its uppermost position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, or to a number of other operating positions, such as shown in full lines in said figure. The mounting 34 includes a clamping member 36 which cooperates with said mounting to hold the mounting attached to the door or gutter of the motor vehicle. detail.

The mounting 34 consists of a case 31 having a front wall 38, a rear wall 33 and end walls 4| and 42 connected therewith. Said case is open at the top, but is closed at the lowermost portion of the same by means of a bottom 43. These walls form a compartment 46 within the case. The front wall 38 is constructed at the lowermost portion of the same with an offset 44 semi-circular in cross section, which provides an under cut space 45 within the same communicating with the compartment 40.

The shield 35 has been illustrated in the case as constructed of metal, though it can be readily comprehended that any other material, such as is now well known in the art may be employed. The shield is provided at the innermost end with looped portions 46 which encircle a shaft 41 supporting the said shield. The shaft 41 extends through the walls 4| and 42 of case 31 and is journaled in suitable bearings 48 formed therein, having a portion 52 thereof disposed within the space 45 of said case. At the locality of the cas 31, the shield 35 is notched as indicated at 43 to receive the portion 44 of said case and to permit of swinging of said shaft and shield relative to said case. The shield 35 is attached to the shaft 41 by means of a pin 5| or otherwise, so that said shaft rotates relative-to the case 31 with the shield 35.

The shield 35 is held in adjusted position by means of a spring friction member 55, best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This friction member is constructed from a strip of spring material, which is bent to provide a loop 56 adapted to encircle the portion 52 of shaft 41. The loop 56 is open and has two arms 51 and 58 connected with the ends thereof, said arms issuing outwardly there- These parts will now be described in while the two arms 51 and 53 extend into the compartment 43. The arm 51 engages the innermost surface of the wall 33, while the arm 58 is parallel therewith. Formed in the center of the front wall 33 of case 31 is a counter-sunk hole 53, best shown in Fig. 6. A counter-sunk'machine screw 6| extends through this hole and through similar holes 62 in the arms 51 and 58 of the friction member 55. This screw engages a nut 63 disposed upon the rear surface of the arm 58,

which nut is heldfrom rotation by means of a lug 64 bent outwardly from said arm. It will readily be comprehended that rotation of the screw 6| in one direction will draw the armstogether and cause pressure to be exerted by the loop 56 on the portion 52 of shaft 41, whereby friction is produced tending to hold the shield 3 in adjusted position. Upon rotating screw 3| in the opposite direction, the resiliency of the arms 51 and 58 causes the arms 51 and 58 to spring away from one another and the loop 56 to release the shaft and to reduce the pressure thereon. By means of said screw, the friction may be adjusted so that any degree of resistance to the movement of the shield within the limits of the device may be procured.

The mounting 31 is held attached,to the lip 33 of the door |3 by means of the clamping member 36 which is best shown in Figs. 2 and 6. This clamping member is preferably constructed from sheet metal and is formed with a jaw 65 and with a flange 66 issuing outwardly therefrom. Extending outwardly from the flange 66 are two spaced ears 61 and 68 which are threaded at 63 to receive screws 1|. The jaw 65 is disposed outwardly of the rear wall 33 of the case 31 which serves as another jaw and is arranged in parallel relation thereto. The flange 66 overlies the upper edge of the rear wall 33, while the cars 61 and 68 extend into the compartment 43 of case 31 through the open upper end thereof and straddle the friction member 55. The screws 1| are received in counter-sunk holes 12 formed in the front wall 38 of case 31 which are disposed on opposite sides of the holes 53. Upon rotation of the screws 1|, the ears 61 and 68 may be drawn toward the front wall 38 and the jaw 65 moved toward the jaw 33. The jaw 65 is constructed with a ridge 14 which is adapted to engage beneath the head 21 and to directly engage the flange 25 of the connecting member 23. Thus the jaw 65 engages both the said bead and flange to securely hold the mounting attached to the door of the motor vehicle. In order to prevent marring of the paint upon the outer surface of the rim 36, a gasket 15 is employed which is attached to the exposed surface of the jaw 33.

The method of using the invention is obvious. The jaw 65- is first moved outwardly from the jaw 33 a distance suflicient to permit of insertion of the lip 33 into the space between said jaws. In the application of the clamping member 36 to the door, the gasket 13 is first moved away from the lip 36 to permit of insertion of the jaw 65 therebetween. The two screws 1| are next tightened until the clamping member is brought into engagement with the rim of th door and until the jaws securely clamp the mounting to the same. Both mountings are similarly applied. After the sunshade has been mounted, the screws 6| are tightened until the desired amount of friction is had to hold the shield in proper position. When the device is in use, the shield may be manually shifted in position to give the desired shading effect. One of the operating posiassess? tions of the shield is shown in full lines in Fig. 4. When it is desired to swing the shield out of the way, the same is moved upwardly until it reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. i. The thiolmess of the jaw 65 being relatively thin, the same oifers no difficulty in the closing of the door, since doors for motor vehicles are provided with ample space for the purpose.

By means of the construction shown, the mounting may be also attached to the outer wall or lip 3! of the gutter 45. For this-purpose, the jaw or rear wall 38 of the case 31 is formed with a groove 15 which conforms in shape to the curvature of the wall ll of gutter IS. The gasket 1! follows along this groove. The ridge 14 on the clamp jaw 05 is directly opposite the groove IO, so that the same engages the wall II of the gutter on the inner surface thereof and the gasket 15 is held in engagement with said wall at the groove 10. The method of application of the invention to the gutter I5 is the same as to the door It.

The device is extremely practical and simple in construction and may be easily and quickly applied to existing motor vehicles. Due to the The advantages of my invention are manifest.

fact that the device may be attached to the gutter of the motor vehicle, the same may be applied so as to shade the windows of the motor vehicle not mounted in the doors thereof, as for example, the'rear side windows of a sedan or coach. The shade maybe shifted from one door to the other and when applied to the gutter, may be moved along the gutter to occupy different positions with respect to the windows of the motor vehicle. The shield is easily moved by simple manual manipulation from operative to inoperative position and vice 'versa. The principal operating parts of the device are contained within the case forming the mounting, where the same are protected from injury. My improved sunshade is neat and attractive in appearance and occupies a minimum amount of space in storage.

Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A sunshade comprising a case having a front wall, a rear wall, a bottom, and end walls con-' nected thereto, a shaft extending through the end walls of the'case and rotatably mounted therein, said shaft being located in the corner between said front wall and bottom, a shield attached to said shaft, friction means within the case comprising a band encircling the shaft and having upwardly extending arms, said arms being disposed intermediate the end walls of the case, a screw extending through the front wall of the case and engaging one of said arms for drawing the-arms together to produce friction between said band andshaft, a clamping member having ears extending into themes and disposed on' opposite sldes of said arms, screws extending through the front walls of the case and engagihg said ears, said screws straddling said. first named screw, all of said screws being disposed above said shaft, a Jaw on said clamping member cooperating with the rear wall of the case to clamp an object therebetween,'and means extending through the case and connecting said jaw to said ears. V

LEWIS A. VEBTA. 

